Azmari

An Azmari (Amharic: አዝማሪ) is an entertainer who sings and plays traditional string instruments of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are comparable to medieval European minstrels, bards or West African griots. ^[1]

Azmari playing masenqo in a tejbeit, Lalibela, northern Ethiopia

Azmari, who may be either male or female, are skilled at singing extemporized verses, accompanying themselves on either a masenqo (one-stringed fiddle) or krar (lyre).

Etymology

Azmari means (to sing or singer) in Amharic. Amharas tend to call all musicians Azmari simply because there's no other word in the language denoting a person who plays a musical instrument.^[2]

History

The earliest documented mention of the Azmaris goes back to the mid-15th century, and they presumably go back much further.^[3]

Role in society

Azmaris once played an important role as social critics by improvising sophisticated texts of praise or criticism.^[4] Azmaris would mock people in high places, and even Emperors were not spared if they were found to be unpopular with the public. Azmaris were the first to convey scandals in high places.^[5]

Female Azmaris flourished in feudal Ethiopia. They were just like their male counterparts poet-musicians. The female musicians are usually wives or lovers of male Azmaris who gradually learned the repertory of their male counterparts.^[6]

Between 1841-1843, the English traveller Major William Cornwallis Harris captured the prevailing political atmosphere and attitudes of Sahle Selassie's court towards his enemies in a song of praise played by one of his female chorist (azmari).

In stature like the lance he bears,
His godlike mien the prince declares;
And famed for virtue through the land,
All bow to Saloo's just command.

The sabre feels the royal grasp,
And Pagans writhe in death's cold clasp;
The Galla taste the captive fare,
And dread the vengeance which they dare.

— A memorable observation by Major William Cornwallis Harris, of a female Azmari praise of king Sahle Selassie court, in " Misgana (translated from Amharic) praise song", ^[7]

Today

Azmaris have continued perform in various settings ranging from wedding ceremonies, to hotels, and in drinking establishments called tejbeit, which specialise in the serving of tej (mead). The Azmaris introduced the popular Tizita ballad form.^[8][9]

Notable Azmari

• Asnaketch Worku
• Bahru Kegne
• Eténèsh Wassié
• Weres Egeziaber